its-neat

[its-neat]

Collecting utterly devastating last words like Pokémon cards

[its-neat]

I just want to know what this says so badly…..

[its-neat]

Luka Observations

Wiege I think was the final piece to solving the puzzle that is Luka. The answer is so simple it’s right there in the thumbnail.

Every other thumbnail for a full music video show a point happening in the present, but for Luka he has never left this moment. He’s a child in a grown man’s body. Every action that he’s taken in the other two rounds we’ve seen with him make sense when you look at it through the lens of someone who's not mentally grown since he was a child. Let me do a quick run down in some of this actions in rounds 5 & 7.

Round 5

In his first major appearance Luka gives off this arrogant vibe. The closest thing to a main villain of the series. He whistle at Mizi. Taunts her. Dances around her. pulls her along— and famously begins impersonating Sua. He treats her like a toy to be played with and the stage as a game. Not as a deadly competition. All this taunting eventually leads Mizi to snap and give him a good beating. Instead of Mizi getting shot on the spot, humans rescue her and take her away. Even through a bloody mangled face he’s able to spot Hyuna.

Final

In Final, Luka is very much up to his same tactics. Clearly getting his face beaten in didn’t teach him anything, because he also pulls the same stunts as he did with Mizi. Impersonating Ivan, touching Tills face, and even pulling out a violin— taking away something unique to him. Till being one of the only competitors who can play an instrument. I believe he’s laughing in the screenshot above, because he realizes he doesn’t even need to pull all his petty tricks. He realizes Till is in such a bad state after coming straight from round 6. It’s just a small blink (ha) and you miss it childish moment.

And then, once till gets his confidence back after seeing Mizi, Luka get mad. He’s mad that Till isn’t falling for those tricks and almost even wins. To me, it never felt like the grand plan of a villain but more like the frustration when a child loses at a playground game.

Wiege

And now we get to Wiege. I wasn’t sure how he was gonna react when he saw Hyuna again. And then he pull this dopey little smile with a gun to his head and it all clicked for me. Luka is a lonely child. He was a designed human, and one of many clones. One of his first actions when he was younger was to free the rest of his clones.

Note that he’s holding a knife, and the pods look slit but no clone is hurt. I also think that Luka might have gotten out early somehow. In the couple shots that we see the clones he always looks much smaller than them. Perhaps that’s what led to his heart condition? After this, it cuts from the clones to meeting Hyuna. From then on Hyuna becomes the center of his world. Every other shot in Weige from his perspective are one of two people he cares about Hyuna and Hyun Woo.

See how this is likely from Luka's pov.

A slight side tangent that Luka did like Hyun Woo, just not as much as he liked Hyuna. I think that they were also friends. Hanging out and looking at bugs. Normal kid things. As Luka played more with the twins his affection for Hyuna grew. until it reached a breaking point for Luka and he attempts to kiss her- which we see in All In.

Which, at the time All-In was released, it just seemed like a textbook case of SA. (to be clear it is.) but there's in-universe nuance to it. Firstly, in one of the comics, its stated that Anakt humans don't know what kissing is. So, Hyuna here is reacting out of confusion and not fear. I'll go more into this in a bit.

Turning to Lukas pov, he is a designed pet. The best of his kind. Passed around to be admired, and is implied to be the victim on SA himself.

How would someone raised in such a way express affection? He would also express physical affection and possession. That's all he knows.

I want to break down my personal interpretation on the events that lead to Hyun Woo's death and how that molded Luka into who he is today. Hyun Woo was always a bit off put by Luka's odd behavior. But even then they were still friends and the three of them hung out together. As seen in this comic and in Wiege. So much so that Luka drew all three of them together with his other clones. (with Hyuna obviously having the most detail.)

And then Luka kissed Hyuna. I think she was uncomfortable with it. She didn't understand what happened at the time and decided to just avoid him. In All-In, the sequences of her and Hyun Woo and then the kiss are shown one after the other. That tells me that Hyun Woo's death and the kiss are linked together.

So, Hyuna begins to avoid Luka. Which would be the last thing in the world he'd want. After all, her life is his. So he finds her and with tears in his eyes tries to take her back. this is the point that Hyun Woo begins to fight back. Getting angry and hitting Luka.

It became a big fight and Hyuna stepped away to go find help. In All-in Luka is on the ground struggling to move after the altercation.

Luka's fingers turn purple for the first time and Hyuna come back to find Hyun Woo dead. lying upwards, his head falling onto a rock. Either Luka pushing back or Hyun Woo falling back on his own.

It's childish in it's tragedy. Just a simple accident. regardless of if Luka pushed Hyun Woo or not, what's more important here is Luka reaction.

He's elated. Death to Luka has a different meaning to him. Ever since he was born, death had surrounded him. He knows he's replaceable, so why isn't everything else? He's happy here because it means he can be with Hyuna again.

Which is exactly what he got in the aftermath. He got what he wanted. This shot in particular is so telling. as the camera pan's up:

Hyuna is devastated, and Luka is oblivious to her reaction. Which, going back to Rounds 5 and 7, explains all of his behavior in those rounds. He's utterly indifferent to other's feelings and is willing to exploit them in order to get what he wants.

I think that's the reason he entered into the Alien Stage again. He must've thought Hyuna was dead after her loss, but later wanted posters of her began to appear.

So, he entered again. To get her attention, and would do anything to get him all the way to the end. In round 5 he saw a glimpse of her and the rebels. and at the end of round 7 he was able to see her again in person.

And all of that meticulous planning and working was thrown out the window after he got what he wanted. He returned to the same state he was in after Hyun Woo died. Completely oblivious to the world around him- the love of his life is right in front of him.

That obliviousness cost him. It cost him everything he had worked for all his life. Similar to Mizi, he's now lost everything he had ever cared about. and this is why her words to him are so important.

"Luka, Live with love." Without those words, he would've remained stuck. Those words are meant to act as his wake up call and are telling him to finally begin moving forward with his life.

To be clear, Luka did and does love Hyuna. We can see that in the AU shots where they're equals and love each other dearly. Luka turned out the way he is because of the circumstances he was raised in.

I'll be interested to see where he goes from here.

[its-neat]

I hate a blank canvas.